MONTREAL, Aug. 20, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Air Canada today announced the
opening of a new state-of-the-art global Operations Centre (OC) in
Brampton, Ontario which is expected to significantly improve its
operational capabilities and efficiencies. The new facility is the
result of a two-year, $60-million project and will serve as the central
control for the airline's operations, with 400 employees overseeing, on
a 24/7 basis, nearly 600 Air Canada flights each day.

"Air Canada is already recognized as one of the world's best airlines
and our new, leading-edge OC will further strengthen our position.
This new mission control centre incorporates the latest in
technological and other design elements. Further, we can expect
important efficiencies with teams from all areas of the operation
including Operations Control, Flight Dispatch, Airports, Revenue
Management, Maintenance, Crew Scheduling, Cargo, Air Canada rouge and
Customer Journey Management working under one roof to get our customers
to their destinations safely, on-time and comfortably," said Calin
Rovinescu, President and Chief Executive Officer. "The opening of this
centre is another step in our ongoing transformation as reflected in
our accumulation of international awards and honours, such as being
designated the only Four-Star network carrier in North America and the
Best Airline in North America."

The new, 75,000-square-foot facility has been completed on-time and
within budget. It will be fully operational in the first quarter of
2014 following a period of testing, training and transition. Once in
service, it will become the global nerve centre for Air Canada's
operations ensuring delivery of Air Canada's schedule and safe
transport of approximately 35 million Air Canada customers annually. To
enable Air Canada to meet its regular schedule, the OC is responsible
for:

decision-making on operating flights within 48 hours of scheduled
departure

ensuring appropriate resources, such as crews and aircraft, are
available

managing the customer journey experience to get customers to destination
as quickly and easily as possible

schedule changes and cancellations, including aircraft changes or extra
flight additions, in response to unforeseen circumstances

leading preparations for disruptions, such as winter storms, and
developing and implementing recovery plans

Air Canada maintains its corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec
where it employs more than 5,000 people and it is Canada's largest
domestic and international airline serving more than 175 destinations
on five continents. Canada's flag carrier is the 15th largest
commercial airline in the world and in 2012 served close to 35 million
customers. Air Canada provides scheduled passenger service directly
to 60 Canadian cities, 53 destinations in the United States and 67
cities in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, the Caribbean,
Mexico and South America. Air Canada is a founding member of Star
Alliance, the world's most comprehensive air transportation network
serving 1,328 destinations in 195 countries. Air Canada is the only
international network carrier in North America to receive a Four-Star
ranking according to independent U.K. research firm Skytrax that ranked
Air Canada in a worldwide survey of more than 18 million airline
passengers as Best Airline in North America in 2013 for the fourth
consecutive year. For more information, please visit: www.aircanada.com.